SeverUs Never
by nekoue
Summary: A young boy named Severus Snape leads a difficult life.
1. Chapter 1

They were fighting again, they were always fighting. The boy looked up, the sky was dark and cloudy, it wasn't going to rain, only looked like it. Today was just another gloomy day. He sighed, they were the same, on the outside, each and every one. Brick blocks with windows and doors utterly indiscernible from one another, save for the occasional place mat or door decoration. But that wasn't really why he was staring at them so intently, not to see the differences on the outside but to guess at the differences on the inside. He knew almost every house that had children in it, not that they ever played with him, but he knew. This house, with its purple door mat and smiling cat door hanger must be a cheery one. There would be laughter in that house, and the children that might live within it would never be forgotten, never be ignored, and left to wander the neighborhood while a fight raged on inside their own brick block.

Severus scuffed his shoe in the gravel. He looked to his right, this house was almost always dark, always foreboding. This house was worse than his own, someone terrible lived there he knew it and in there, whom ever lived there, was always shut up, dark and lonely as their house, lonely as Severus felt. 'I wonder if it's a Wizard or Muggle?' he thought before continuing on his way. He followed the trash strewn river for a while kicking at discarded bottles and cans this place was so horrid, how he wished he could leave, he and his mother. Walking on he found his way to a little park hidden away in the neighborhood. It was nice in its own little way, but just as shabby as the housing complex in which it resided.

The grass was yellow and dead with just the fewest patches of green, that was all it was really, dead grass and a few trees, and the swing set of course, but that was in use. Grabbing the boughs of a nearby tree the boy hulled his thin frame skyward until he was balanced high in the oak and well hidden. He would wait until they remembered, wait until they found him, felt sorry and realized that they loved him, that is what he was going to do. After a few moments of brooding he began to doubt his plan, his mother a witch and father a Muggle, they would have only too many ways of both worlds in which to punish him...

Watching from his hiding spot he could see the stray cats of the neighborhood had begun to fight, this fight lasted only a short while though and he became bored once more. A shriek suddenly caught his attention. Looking down at the swing set he saw that two girls about his own age. They were racing after one another weaving in, out and around the swings themselves. Chuckling to himself, his own joy bringing a flush of color to his face, Severus watched as they played. He loved those girls in an instance, in a way he did not even love himself, they were giggling and having fun despite that fact that the grass was dead and harsh on their bare feet, their shoes having been discarded a few by the swing set. Oh how he yearned to join them, but dared not. Instead he watched them running gaily through the park, they were running, now tumbling, now playing tag, he loved it! He watched with deep interest as they began swinging trying to best one another in height and speed.

"Come here I want to show you something!" the smaller girl with deep red hair suddenly said leaping from her seat. Severus smiled at her excitement.

"Wait!" the other girl called as she raced after her.

After running about a yard away from the set the red haired girl stopped and stood erect lifting her arms from her sides. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and floated. Severus' breath caught. Blinking he leaned forward, he wasn't imagining it, she was nearly a foot off the ground.

"Petunia isn't this amazing?" the redhead asked.

With startling speed the other girl, Petunia crossed her hand over the face of the smaller child. The small girl fell immediately and began to cry on hands and knees.

"Don't you ever do that again, ever! It's not right!" Petunia shouted over the other child's wailing. Quickly descending from his perch Severus ran to Petunia and knocked her to the ground,

"Stop it you stupid Muggle!" he yelled before comforting the other girl. "It's alright," he said smiling. "There's nothing wrong with you, you're a witch, and that means you can do things other people can't!" he said smiling again. "I'm Severus." he informed her, helping her to her feet. Suddenly feeling stupid and embarrassed he stammered to make conversation. "W-what's your name?" he asked dumbly.

"Lily." the girl replied looking at him with hauntingly green eyes. Severus was taken aback.

"Lily, I like that...name." he said softly his face reddening suddenly.

"Petunia, Lily!" called a woman from some ways off. "It's time to come in now!"

"Come on." demanded the older girl, her brown hair dangling over her eyes as she gathered up her shoes and began to walk towards their mother.

"Bye." Lily said wiping her face before racing after her sister.

"Bye..." Severus breathed, alone once more.


	2. Chapter 2

"I will not wish her any sort of luck she's a freak!" Severus could hear Petunia shrieking from outside the house. Oh how he hated that girl! She was always making fun of him and enjoyed making life hard for Lily. Leaning forward slightly he tried to get a look inside the house. A sudden slap on the shoulder made him stand up straight, as his mother cleared her throat in warning. The arguing continued inside and the boy shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously. 'What if she doesn't come and I have to do this alone?' he thought frantically. Just then the door opened and a distraught Lily rushed outside.

"Hi." Severus said raising his hand slightly, unsure of himself.

"Hi." Lily smiled to him from under her long auburn hair, her green eyes red and puffy.

Reaching out Severus went to pat her back, his hand twitched as it neared her. He dropped his arm his stomach tightening. Clearing his throat he tried again, it was no good, he just couldn't do it. He returned his hand to its former position at his side wiping his sweaty palm on his pant leg. Looking up at him Lily gave a faint smile, he smiled back. "I-I'm sorry about Petunia..." Severus said not quite sure of what, it anything to do or say.

"It's alright." Lily sighed. "At least Mum and Dad are happy about it!" she smiled again.

The door opened once more and Lily's mother stepped out, a distraught and wired look on her face. "I'm so sorry about all this!" she apologized approaching them. "Petunia, she's well, Petunia!" She chuckled nervously wringing her fingers. "So you are sure you don't mind doing this? I mean we would love to," she paused and smiled at Lily. "But," she stopped once more. "Petunia, she just..."

"It's fine!" Severus' mother said reaching out to pat the other woman's hand. The two mothers exchanged smiles.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Snape!" Mrs. Evans gushed grabbing hold of her hands.

"Eileen, please!" Severus' mother gushed back with just as much enthusiasm. Her son sighed, he hated it when she was like this, fake, fake nice, fake happy, all around fake like a Bogart, except what you want to see and not what you don't. She always did this, put on a public show making her and her family out to be perfect which was the farthest thing from the truth. "And I don't mind Tobias is at work, so it's just going to be us." she said smiling at the children who stood silently by, fidgeting with nerves.

"Bye sweetheart remember that we love you oh so very much!" Lily's mother said embracing her warmly. "Write to me every day!" she instructed sternly.

"OK, Mum." Lily agreed nodding as tears spilled from her eyes.

"I love you!" he mother said kissing the crown of her head.

"Love you too Mum, give Dad," she paused. "and Petunia my love too!"

"I will, goodbye!"

"Bye." Lily said the two of them fought back their tears.

It was a few moments later as the three of them were walking down the road when Eileen Snape abruptly stopped and turning, on heel to face the children said. "Take my arms dears." She smiled sweetly at them when neither moved to do as she bid. "Come, come now!" Severus took a step back.

"Mother how are we getting to the station again?" the boy asked looking at his mother's pale arm with great suspicion dancing in his eyes. "Mum?" he asked firmly after receiving no answer.

"Just take my arm dear!" she said made entirely of cheap, fake, plastic.

Taking a deep breath both of them grabbed on to be twisted and morphed, they arrived at the train station pale and shaky in an instant. "Why did yo-" were the only words Severus was able to get out before rushing the a trash bin losing his lunch just he got to it. Lily had beaten him there, but was kind enough to share the bin. Severus was sick, embarrassed and dreading having eaten. Eileen chuckled softly behind the pair.

"Thought you'd have had a stronger stomach then that love!" Severus's mother said patting him on the back before saying, "I'm so sorry dear!" as she rubbed Lily's back sympathetically before pulling back her hair for her. Soon the two friends were aboard a train on the way to a school of magic, hidden apart from "normal" society.

"I hate your mother!" Lily moaned slouching on the seat.

"Yeah, me too..." Severus mumbled. Lily gave him a quizzical look before he added, "Just kidding. She does get on my nerves though." Lily smiled knowingly and nodded.

"Wake me when we get there?" Lily asked suddenly after a while scooting closer to her friend. "Please!" she added resting her head on his shoulder.

"S-sure!" He squeaked his voice suddenly deciding to change pitch on him. After a while he was comfortable enough to rest his head on hers. Never had he been so happy in his entire life, this was heaven!

The ride seemed to last forever and be over in the blink of an eye at the same time, one moment Severus and Lily were asleep on the train the next they were in boats with other first years making their way to a giant illuminated castle which seemed to rise from the ground as a great mountain of sheer rock face ablaze with a burning glow. Every first year was stunned, amazed and frightened. This was where true magic was mastered; this was Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry!

Soon the first years were crammed like sardines in a small corridor before being allowed to enter the dinning-hall where their fate would be decided. They waited quietly, almost too quietly until the first name was called. It would be a lucky year for Ravenclaw seeing as they had gotten the first new student of the year and were cheering loudly. Somehow amidst all the chaos and excitement the two friends were able to comprehend that Lily had just been called up.

"Go ahead Lily, you can do it!" Severus said smiling before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.


	3. Chapter 3

They were separated, two different houses, how had this happened? Severus sighed with dismay. What did the hat see in them that was so different from one another? Picking at his food, head propped on his chin Severus struggled slightly to get a look at her. Lily was sitting between two girls eating a piece of pie. She was so lovely sitting there, eating. Her robes fit her beautifully they weren't too loose as he noticed some girls were, hand me downs most likely, like his own. Neither were they too tight like the robes of the tart who sat across from him. She was smiling now, he loved her smile. Severus was smiling too, her joy was so infectious how it hadn't spread to the entire hall he had no idea. Lily played with her phoenix fire hair twirling it around a finger, his heart fluttered a bit. As he watched, one of the other girls must have said something funny for she was laughing now. Dancing through the air it reached his ears chiming like a bell.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" an older boy called to Severus from farther down the table.

"Nothing." he murmured his gaze falling back to his plate. He sighed, two separate houses. How would they survive? The food here was good though, he thought taking another bite of turkey. Maybe it was sign that not everything at Hogwarts would be so bad.

"First years!" cried out the boy who had questioned him just moments before. His friends joined him in a laugh elbowing each other which jostled everyone around them. Severus did his best to become invisible and when that didn't work he settled for trying to melt into none existence.

"Knock it off!" Lusious an older boy with silver blond hair called from farther down, the table settled again. Severus smiled to him, he nodded back. The remainder of their meal was eaten in relative peace.

"Mind the stair cases they like to change!" called the prefects of every house as they lead the first years to their respective dormitories. "Right up here!" said the Gryffindor prefect as he jogged up a moving flight of stairs. "Come on, come on!" he called urging the others forward. "We don't want to wait for it to change again do we?"

Catching a glimpse of Lily, a part of his own gaggle of first years Severus stopped to watch her, she was laughing having apparently made friends already, Severus loved her joy. "Oh, gosh!" she squealed loudly as the stairs began moving again.

"Come Lily you can do it!" the other first years called as they leaped off to a stable walk way encouraging her to do the same.

"No, don't!" called the prefect as he struggled to get through the crowd, using his elbows, sweat coming to his brow for fear of her dying under his watch.

Lily gave another nervous squeal shifting from foot to foot and back again. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes she went for it!

"Lily!" Severus cried out rushing to the railing of his own flight of stairs as he struggled to see what had happened. She'd made it, heaving a sigh of relief Severus wiped his forehead. 'Oh God!' He thought. 'That was horrible.' Turing around he realized that everyone was staring at him, some laughing. His pale face flushed immensely as he did his best imitation of a glass window. Looking up to where he last saw Lily he was greatly surprised and extremely relieved to see her leaning over the railing and waving at him with a grand smile.

Once inside the dormitory Severus found his trunk at the end of a bed slightly larger than the one he had at home. It was made with white sheets and pillows, but the comforter was a stunning emerald green, it seemed to be the only color in the dark Slytherin dormitories which were in the lower dungeons. It felt awkward sharing a room with others, granted it wouldn't be with any girls but he still didn't feel comfortable being around so many other people, let alone changing in front of them. A thing which none of the others apparently seemed to have any issues with.

His night clothes in hand he found his way into the dormitory bathroom. After changing he returned to find everyone in a great ruckus. "What's going on?" he asked a nearby boy.

"I don't know, they've thrown everything out of my trunk!" the boy replied as he frantically searched for his missing items. Making his way to his own bed Severus found that his own trunk was in shambles. All of the older boys were laughing hysterically as the first years struggled to sort out what things belonged to whom.

'Maybe,' Severus thought. 'Life at Hogwarts wouldn't be so great after all...'


End file.
